Chamber Calendar

Chairman's Message

9th September 2010

Nobody could accuse me of me being a shrinking violet; as a result I like to sing praises where praises are due. I believe, within the last six months, The Wayland Chamber of Commerce has excelled in the services it has provided to its members and as a result I am unashamedly singing the praises of the Chamber, loudly and proudly.

This year has been an uncertain time for businesses and associated business organisations. We have navigated through the rocky road of the election, and have waited with baited breath to see how a change in political leadership may impact business, business finance, business support organisations and our business pockets. The Jury is still out on this.

However, what I am pleased to report is that Businesses in the Wayland area have taken such changes in their stride and I am proud of the positive press reports that the variety of our Wayland Entrepreneurs have received over the past 6 months, both regionally and nationally.

The Wayland Chamber of Commerce over the past 6 months itself has embraced change and I believe has added true value to its members. As a result membership to the Chamber is increasing to its highest level for years. Thatís something certainly to shout proudly about.

Further during the past 6 months The Chamber has successfully held two Business Breakfast meetings, which have been extremely well attended and have been embraced by Wayland businesses who have come along, networked, enjoyed breakfast and the wonderful guest speakers who have given up their time to provide positive information to delegates.

Our primary reason, as a Chamber, for initiating the Business Breakfast Meetings is to provide a forum, for Wayland businesses to network purposely with other businesses. Secondly we wanted to make local business aware of what goods and services are available in this area and to promote using those goods and services, which are only Ďa stoneís throw away.í Sometimes in our busy day to day lives we forget to see what is directly in front of us. The Chamber, through these meetings, has attempted to provide that clarity of vision again to its members.

The Wayland Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Pride in Breckland, also initiated a Jigsaw Competition in June. The goal of this initiative was to create awareness of the goods and services provided by High Street and Village businesses and to raise the profile of the Wayland area as a place the people of Breckland should consider coming to shop. The competition was a huge success and required to be extended to September. But letís talk straight here; this initiative would not have taken place without the positive response of the 30 business participants who embraced the competition. They each donated a gift for the prize fund. Lesley Lloyd of Watton won all 30 prizes.

The Chamber has also revamped this website to provide yet another professional forum for our local members to inform the community about the services they provide. The website displays information about forthcoming events, allows members to display their logo, has an excellent search facility and will keep you updated as to the activities of the Chamber (which are not always business related).

On top of supporting local business, the Chamber takes pride in supporting the local community. This year we have sponsored the Watton Carnival, made a donation to Frances Packham for her parachute jump for Big C and pledged money to the Wayland Partnership.

The Wayland Chamber of Commerce has further been involved in community events such as the Watton Games held on the 24 July 2010 at Watton Sports Centre and I was honoured to be asked to hand out medals to the winning team. We also worked in partnership with Pride in Breckland who organised the first Cultural evening on the 3 September 2010 (further information about these events can be read on our blog).

So, as you can see, I feel that the Wayland Chamber of Commerce has the right to blow its own trumpet. I believe we have truly become the business voice of the Wayland area and have added value to our members. We are now a more proactive Chamber and we are continually looking for initiatives and further opportunities to raise the profile of Wayland as an area for business.

I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking the committee members for their support and hard work during the past 6 months. These events do not just happen they take a lot of hard work, man hours and dedication.

We always welcome the opportunity of new voices as committee members and if you wish further information upon this please contact us through the contact page.
Hereís hoping for another positive six months.